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IT Services Sourcing & Negotiation Support

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Navigating the Managed Services Landscape: Key Disruptive Trends

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IT Sourcing Services Negotiation Support

Effective Strategies for IT Services Sourcing

A significant portion of your IT budget goes towards 3rd party IT service providers who help design, build, deploy, and support your most critical IT projects. Selecting an IT services partner and negotiating an agreement that aligns with your specific needs is crucial to your business’s success. With the support of precise market intelligence and our dedicated team of unbiased IT commercial advisory experts who know what to ask for, you can make that selection with confidence.


Our proven methodologies and proprietary tools will not only accelerate and improve the outcome of the sourcing process, but will enable you to achieve market-competitive terms and pricing with the IT services provider that best suits your needs. We provide highly customized advisory support across the entire IT Services spectrum.

Our Proven Methodology & Approach

Discovery/
Planning

We help you develop integrated sourcing strategies to ensure you have a proper foundation upon which to embark on your transformation journey.

Evaluation &
Selection

Our tools and guidance ensure you solicit comprehensive proposals that align with your expectations to better-inform your partner selection(s).

Negotiation
Preparation

To ensure you are fully aligned and prepared to enter negotiations​, we facilitate the normalization of supplier proposals to ensure accurate comparisons.

Negotiation
Execution

Our negotiation experts identify talking points and assist in scripting the negotiation process so you can achieve optimal outcomes in the required timeframe​.

Contract
Execution

We validate that the agreement and supporting attachments clearly reflect the negotiated commercial, financial, and project terms​.

Project Execution
Advisory Services

Post contract execution support ensures service providers deliver on-time, on-budget, and with quality against your program scope.

Your Unbiased, Buy-Side Advocate From Strategy Through Execution

Make fact-based SI decisions that mitigate risks and ensure provider accountability. 

Gain a balanced approach for ensuring your operational priorities are met.

Confidently select the cloud provider that best fits your organization’s needs.

Secure best-in-class pricing and commercial terms in all of your SAP license agreements.

IT Services Practice by the Numbers

$10B

Worth of Project Spend

>650

Transactions

>41x

Return On Investment

System Implementation Services

The most critical element of any transformation is the people who make up your team which most likely includes a systems integrator. The development and execution of an effective system implementation partner evaluation, selection, and negotiation strategy will materially impact the outcome of your transformation and may even alter your services provider landscape.

We assess all aspects of IT system integrator proposals on an apples-to-apples basis, closing material gaps in scope, assumptions, staffing, and risk-sharing. Our toolset provides you with a quantitative assessment of financial risk associated with each provider’s proposal in comparison to each other and to the market. Once you’ve chosen your preferred providers, we will identify your potential negotiation levers and provide holistic fact-based negotiation strategies for capturing commercial terms that are flexible, scalable, and agile which minimizes project risk.

We Have Answers

  • Will our sourcing strategy support our decision process and timeline?
  • What are the pros and cons of sole source vs. competitive bid?
  • What is the risk profile of each implementation partner proposal?
  • Do we have the right risk mitigation strategy?
  • When is an MSOW/ISOW structure the right contracting model?

What We Provide

  • Sourcing, evaluation, selection, negotiation, and contracting plan
  • System implementation RFP and estimate worksheet
  • Detailed proposal gap readout
  • Comparative analysis of your top suppliers
  • End-to-end commercial and contract negotiation support

Our SI Tools

  • PRIZM – Proprietary Comparative Assessment Tool
  • APEX – Proprietary Estimate Analyzer and Risk Modeler
  • RFP Template and Estimate Worksheet
  • Supplier Intelligence Portal (SIP) Rate Analyzer
  • Consulting Rates Database
  • Commercial & Contract Terms Database

System Implementation Case Studies

Application Management and Support (AMS) Services

An essential part of any IT transformation is the establishment of an operational and sourcing strategy that simultaneously supports the existing and newly developed environments. Organizations have an opportunity to leverage the inflection point of an IT transformation to reevaluate their application management and support model. This re-evaluation is typically viewed in the context of the overall IT application support landscape where project implementation impacts and interdependencies require thoughtful consideration during the implementation phase. We collaborate with our clients to formulate an integrated sourcing strategy and effectively execute the provider evaluation, selection, and negotiation process.

We Have Answers

  • Will the selected SI provide interim AMS support?
  • Which AMS providers should we consider?
  • When is the optimal time to go out to RFP?
  • Should we issue an integrated application and infrastructure RFP?

What We Provide

  • Holistic view of the market and your sourcing options
  • An integrated sourcing and provider evaluation strategy
  • Methods and tools required to objectively evaluate and select your solution
  • Comprehensive and highly customized negotiation advisory support

Our Tools

  • Rate and Resource Unit Pricing Database
  • ARC/RRC and Deadband Tool
  • Productivity Assessment Tool
  • Service-Level Agreement Database
  • Contract and Commercial Terms Database

AMS Hosting Case Studies

Managed Services Advisory Service

Provider-Specific Market Intelligence and Expertise Across all Towers

Infrastructure Hosting

Public Cloud

Private Cloud

Hybrid Cloud

Faced with the need to refresh end-of-life hardware, companies are turning to both public and private cloud providers to reduce costs and increase efficiency with near real-time provisioning. When considering your options, it’s important to evaluate the type of cloud that meets your needs as well as the provider that best fits your organization’s objectives and requirements.

Armed with an extensive base of market intelligence and deal data, we collaborate with our clients to formulate an integrated infrastructure sourcing strategy and effectively execute hosting provider evaluations, selection, and negotiations.  Our team understands the hosting landscape, the hyperscaler players (AWS, Google Cloud Platform, and Microsoft’s Azure), and their go-to-market strategies and terms.

We Have Answers

  • Who are the key services hosting providers we should consider?
  • Why are organizations shifting their enterprise application environments to the cloud and how are they deciding between hyperscaler offerings?
  • What level of transparency, flexibility, predictability, and productivity can I expect?

What We Provide

  • A holistic view of the infrastructure hosting market and your sourcing options
  • An integrated sourcing and provider evaluation strategy
  • Methods and tools required to appropriately evaluate and select your hosting provider
  • Comprehensive and highly customized negotiation advisory support

Our Cloud Tools

  • Hyperscaler Market Intelligence Database
  • Infrastructure Hosting Market Intelligence Database
  • Cloud Resource Unit Pricing Database
  • Cloud Contract and Commercial Terms Database

Infrastructure Hosting Case Studies

Infrastructure Management Services

Help Desk

End-User Services

Hosting

Network

Security

The most common cost overruns in infrastructure management outsourcing are tied to the level of rigor performed prior to going to market. In these early stages and throughout the process, companies need to control the narrative.

Obtaining normalized proposal responses is critical to making objective decisions on which provider best fits your support needs. Using targeted intelligence for all towers of infrastructure management services, we can assist you with evaluating, selecting, negotiating, and contracting for your infrastructure management needs.

We Have Answers

  • Which I&O providers should we consider?
  • What provider resource unit metrics should we consider for each tower of service?
  • When is the optimal time to go out to RFP?
  • How can I protect my organization from variations in volumes?

What We Provide

  • A clear, objective, and unbiased view of provider market competitiveness
  • Integrated sourcing and provider evaluation strategy
  • Industry-informed, specific metrics by tower of service to ensure you obtained normalized proposal responses
  • Methods, tools, and templates to effectively evaluate all towers of service

Our Tools

  • Resource Unit Pricing Databases by Tower of Service
  • Volume Variation (ARC/RRC and Deadband) Tools
  • Productivity Assessment Tool
  • Service-Level Agreement Databases by Tower of Service
  • Contract & Commercial Terms Database

Infrastructure Management Case Studies

IT Services & Negotiation Support Insights
from our expert advisors

5 Costly Mistakes in Infrastructure Outsourcing

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